


Something Special

by That_Girl_Who_Is_WAY_Too_Cheerful



Category: IT Crowd
Genre: Autism, BSL, Christmas Present for the lovely eating_custardinbed, Gen, Justin Fletcher, M/M, Mr Tumble, Something Special (BBC)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28313535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_Girl_Who_Is_WAY_Too_Cheerful/pseuds/That_Girl_Who_Is_WAY_Too_Cheerful
Summary: Moss uses BSL when he's nonverbal, Roy decides to learn for his boyfriend.(Alternate title, "The Love's In the Silence")
Relationships: Maurice Moss/Roy Trenneman
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Something Special

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eating_custardinbed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eating_custardinbed/gifts).



> Merry Christmas Lib! You came up with this idea... forever ago, but I thought it would be nice for now. Hope everyone enjoys!

The first time he saw Moss have a sensory overload, Roy was, well, a bit scared, to say the least. It had just… happened, and he wasn’t sure why or what or if he’d done something wrong but Moss was upset and somehow, they ended up sitting in the dark with Moss explaining that he was autistic. 

Which had been kind of a new word to Roy, if he was being honest. He was used it in the same kind of way ‘gay’ was used as an insult, a word thrown at the ‘weird’ kids when teachers’ backs were turned. 

So, of course, he’d gone home and googled all of the terms Moss had used - nonverbal, sensory overload, stimming - and over the years, observed and learnt the patterns, where there were patterns to be found. 

But it wasn’t until years later, when they’d started dating, that he learned that Moss used sign language. 

He had gone nonverbal while Roy was over for dinner, and began to sign to Ms Moss (whom Roy would  _ never  _ call by her first name). 

So here Roy was, learning to understand his boyfriend, at 3 am, with a children’s tv show, of all things. 

“Hello, hello! How are you? Hello, hello! It’s good to see you!” The laptop was on minimum volume, but it was still too loud. 

“Shut up…” He grumbled at it. It was  _ probably  _ helping him, the noise of it was just beginning to hurt. 

“You sign! Shopping basket!” Okay. He could do this. Left hand across right, fist, up. When was he  _ ever  _ going to need this? 

_ Left hand across right, fist, UP!  _ Ever so slightly useless. But what if Moss went nonverbal when they were shopping? It was bound to happen, surely, nevermind that they never actually went shopping  _ together,  _ because they didn’t live together but - did Roy want Moss to move in? Maybe. 

“I wonder what Mr Tumble is doing today? Should we call for him? 1, 2, 3-”

“ _ Mr Tu _ \- oh,  _ fuck me.  _ It’s too late for this…” He rubbed his eyes tiredly, running a hand down his face in an attempt to force the smile off it as Mr Tumble appeared. 

He’d been watching these episodes since… well, actually, he wasn’t sure. For a long time. Too long. He hadn’t really learnt much more than the signs for friends and yes. Which were… helpful to a five year old, he was sure, but maybe not to him. 

Closing the laptop with a sigh, he sunk into the couch. He’d try again tomorrow. With a little bit more energy. 

***

Luckily for him, Moss had taken a half day the next day for an optometry appointment. So when there was no work to do (as per usual in the Reynholm Industries IT Department), he settled down at his desk and restarted the shopping episode. 

He’d gotten back up to the shopping basket part when Jen poked her head around the door. 

“What  _ are  _ you doing?” He shut the laptop quickly, his face aflame. 

“Nothin’.” He said, loudly and fast in a way that made him cringe. 

“You’re watching that sign language show.” She moved out of the office and perched herself on the edge of Moss’ desk with a wide smile on her face.

“How do you know what it is?”

“My niece loves it.”

“You’ve got a niece!?” 

“Roy, you know shit all about my family,  _ yes  _ I have a niece.” He rolled her eyes at her. “What’re you watching that for, anyway?”

“Moss.” She raised her eyebrows, slipping off the desk to come closer to him.

“Come again?” Roy sighed.

“He and his mum use sign language when he doesn’t feel like talking or voices are too loud.” He replied simply. She nodded slowly, pressing her fingers to her lips as she processed it. 

“How about we do it together?”

***

They hadn’t heard Moss come in, and Roy wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing at the door watching them both before he spoke up.

“Are you two learning Makaton?” His voice had made them both jump, they’d been so focused on correctly signing ‘rocket’ (Moss liked space! It was  _ bound _ to come up at some point!). 

“Jen’s niece has a friend who’s partially deaf.” Roy thought that that quick thinking deserved applause. “And what do you mean, isn’t this BSL?”

“It’s Makaton. The signs are the same but it’s built on words rather than sentences. Good for kids, though. If you want to learn BSL, I’ll teach you. Mum and I run a class down at the town hall for families.” 

“That’s a lovely offer, Moss. Maybe you could just teach Roy? I’ve got some, uh, paperwork to file. He can teach me later. Ooh, maybe Douglas will give us time off for work-skill improvement.” Roy had to hold back an eye roll. Really, Jen was not better than he was when it came to laziness. 

“Oh, alright then.” Moss nodded cheerfully, before snapping his attention to what could only be described as ‘teaching mode.’ “We always start with phrases because they’re the most practical.” 

Unsurprisingly, learning from Moss was a bit faster than Justin & Mr Tumble. For one thing, Moss wasn’t quite so bouncy, although he was just as enthusiastic. He also didn’t hurt Roy’s ears, which was an added bonus. 

He was very serious though, and after a while Roy found himself missing the somewhat useless words he’d been learning. 

“Teach me the signs for all of the objects in this room.” He said suddenly, and Moss looked a little put out but didn’t miss a beat. 

“Well, first, there’s room…” He drew a square horizontally in front of him. “And door..” He held his hands palms inwards and flapped the right one in and out. 

“What about… lights?” Moss smiled, and raised his right hand in a fist. Roy was getting ready to duck when he flicked it open instead, miming a flashing light above his head. 

“And then there’s desk…”

***

Despite the fact that Moss’ lessons hadn’t continue past the first hour, Roy spent the next few weeks arming himself with all of the phrases he thought would be useful in the event of a panic attack or sensory overload. 

What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was how grateful Moss was when he eventually had to use his new skills. 

Hand to chin, out to sideways thumbs up.  _ Thank you.  _ Over and over, partially because overloads made it hard for him to think much more than that, and partially because he was thankful. 

So was Roy. Usually it was a ‘be quiet, sit tight until he’s alright’ situation. Now he knew what was wrong, and how to fix it, and could  _ support  _ him.

His wonderful, beautiful boyfriend. 

His something special. 

**Author's Note:**

> I learnt BSL for this. Maybe I should give up on Auslan and just learn BSL. I already know the alphabet (cause... they're identical). Anyhow, this was cute! Probably! Kudos and comment if you liked it!


End file.
